While the cross-party committee for Constitutional Revision requested and received a two-month extension, students protested at Parliament demanding that Article 16 not be revised. This article’s first provision states: “Art and science, research and teaching are free; their development and promotion constitute an obligation of the State. Academic freedom and freedom of teaching do not exempt from the duty of obedience to the Constitution.” The protest stemmed from statements made by Kyriakos Mitsotakis regarding their revision. At Parliament, student unions demonstrated against this possibility, with banners clearly stating “No to Article 16 revision,” and argued they would defend the public and free nature of higher education to the end.
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Students at Parliament: “They’re selling degrees we work hard for since high school”
The orangepress agency covered the mobilization and spoke with a student named Vasiliki. She discussed the undermining of public education through Constitutional Revision, as well as the related degradation of public institutions by government policy. She specifically denounced the renaming of private colleges that “commercialize degrees” into universities. Students speak of an attempted devaluation of their hard work, while critically referring to discussions at the Technical Chamber about enrolling college graduates and ranking them in technical responsibility grades, initiating an unfair equalization process.
Vasiliki, representing student unions, described the dangers of this development in particularly strong terms: “We came here today because the Prime Minister himself announced that constitutional revision would begin today. Among everything else, he gives special weight to revising Article 16, which guarantees our right to study publicly and for free at a free university. This thing, how they come and attack it already for so many years through the law on private universities, where we saw how some colleges were renamed universities and come to sell the degrees we work hard for and struggle from high school, from national exams, with all the difficulties in university to pass and get our degree. This is the ultimate mockery.”
As she explained, “it’s really very dangerous to say they’ll sell our degrees from some rooftop apartments in central Athens, while public universities exist, which at this moment produce professionals for society who are capable and committed and have social responsibility.”
“No comparison in infrastructure and professors”
The student placed particular emphasis on technical schools and public safety issues, questioning the level of private schools: “Are there colleges right now providing engineering degrees? They’re not recognized as universities and it will be a very big question by what right these colleges will be recognized as universities when they don’t have half a laboratory, their professors can’t even be compared to the level of Metsovio Polytechnic? And how will these people bear responsibility to build buildings and sign constructions that concern social safety ultimately? I mean, a student who when successfully graduates will have dedicated, including national exams, nearly ten years until getting their degree, will their degree be equal to someone who simply went and paid for it?”
